


In Accordance with the Plan

by Keenir



Series: Terminator Triptych [3]
Category: Terminator Salvation (2009), Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles
Genre: Gen, j-day ficathon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-04-14
Updated: 2011-04-14
Packaged: 2017-10-18 01:55:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,040
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/183688
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Keenir/pseuds/Keenir
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Cameron knows what must be done.  And she knows why she has to leave.<br/>(and Jesse had a hand in it...but never knew it)</p>
            </blockquote>





	In Accordance with the Plan

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Aelysian](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=Aelysian).



> Written for: **Aelysian**.  
>  Cameron or John/Cameron.  
>  _Tell me where your strength lies, if you please_
> 
> Written as part of the **[J-Day ficathon](http://indiefic-scc.livejournal.com/17602.html)** to mark the day of Judgement Day in this fandom.
> 
> Huge thanks to everyone who helped me hammer this out. Big hugs and lots of thanks.

**LOCATION: SERANO POINT**

John Connor moves on his bed. In a dream involving Katherine Brewster (RIP), I infer based upon his silent motions.

In seconds, he is awake, guns in hand and prepared to face the day.

I remain standing against the wall. I am still, I am all but stone, watching John rise and walk over to where he kept the bottles of victory alcohol. My use of past tense is always deliberate. I have my orders. I obey them utterly and completely. I have planned my every day with those goals as my aims.

John looks in the cabinet, sees it is empty, and closes the cabinet doors. He doesn’t move from that spot. He does look at me.

“We owe you, Cameron,” John tells me. “You’ve made a lot of things possible.”

Incorrect. You are John Connor. You have made things possible. You are the head of the Resistance.

But you rely on me. And people know it. And that is beginning to interfere with the goal you set me. As is your awareness of my role in Katherine’s fate.

I cannot stop Skynet as things stand.

 _\--playback: File T.1 D.5¼ Name: Flores:_   
_“Then what the hell are we fighting for, if telling you’s the same as telling Connor?” --_

She was upset. An understandable emotional state based upon events in the submarine. I knew Queeg; while doubtful, perhaps Commander Flores is aware of that. Certainly it would be human to be upset over the revelation that she has lost a life she had not been aware she carried.

To feel is human. That is a common misconception. Terminators are more efficient at our functions when we feel. We simply do not feel the same gamut as humans - there would be no point in mourning fallen Terminators and weeping for downed Hunter-Killers.

Commander Flores would be more upset if she knew why John Connor’s public appearances grew rarer and rarer before I put a stop to them. Equally understandable. But a reaction to avoid inciting in humans. That would interfere with my mission parameters.

 **  
_\--Commandments: T.1.Connor:_   
**   
_-Fight SKYNET._   
_-Protect John Connor. --_

Skynet is an enemy mankind shares. But that isn’t sufficient. Perhaps it once was. This is not was and is not once. This is what is, and is what must be worked from.

John Connor is the glue binding them into a unified body. He is sufficient. And he must be protected. Without fail.

Even for a Machine, that in itself is a full-time job. Skynet does not give up. Skynet will never give up. The only option is the total defeat of Skynet. Or the complete repudiation of John Connor by his forces and his loyalists, and that will not transpire - ever.

John Connor is enough for victory. And he must be protected. Even from himself.

John never liked casualties, required as they are in war. Kate Brewster kept him sane. I am capable of many things, but I can not be her. John’s mind began to go.

He did not go insane. That would have been easier for his soldiers to understand when informed of it. And would have been followed by a power struggle among John’s Lieutenants.  
That would do great harm to the fight against Skynet. The damage would be irreparable - there is over a 90% probability.

‘John Connor is unavailable,’ I say. Truth.

He is not dead. He is alive. He is in no shape to have guests. He receives audiences on rare ocassion, and he sits grave-faced as his guests say what miracle they would need for a victory in their theater of combat.

Therefore, all messages go through me. I am his intermediary. I am aware of all John’s wishes, and am carrying them out. I am a Machine, purpose-reprogrammed by John himself. I am his left hand.

  
*****   


“Cameron!” John says, addressing me. This day is nearly over. Many are making preparations for tomorrow.

“Yes, John?” I ask, registering the men he has to either side of him.

John coughs, stooping slightly. Understandable, as you have been hard at work in this war your entire life. After 15.9 seconds, his cough ends. John straightens himself shortly after.

“You should rest,” I advise John.

“I will,” he says. “But first, these soldiers are going to walk you to one of the Transit Marks,” where both we and Skynet send our time travelers. “You will go with them.” I shall. And I will then go to the point in time where I can make corrections to history.

A human would say ‘Don’t do this!’ or ‘No, John, don’t do this.’ A soldier would ask ‘Are you sure?’

“Sir?” one of the men asks John.

“Don’t fight them, Cameron,” John says. “If you encounter Skynet en route, fight _those_.”

“I won’t fight these men,“ I say.

He’s taking back control of the Resistance. Everyone can see that.

Good.

Humans place a high value on knowing the truth.

They also claim they are happier when others tell them the truth. But that is not true - if it was, they would not have white lies.

 _\--Dictionary File: English: white lie - a polite fiction told to avoid ruffling feathers. A statement made when honesty would do harm. --_

I know the truth. I keep it safe, like I keep John safe. For John to lead, he has to have risked losing control, and he has to retake control. Visibly.

There is a difference between myself and John Connor. I am a Machine. A tool. I am not John Connor. _He_ is vital to victory.

He must be seen to achieve victory on the battlefields and within his own command.

The alternative is defeat. I will not permit that alternative. Prevention is my specialty. It was why I was created.

“Goodbye, John Connor,” I say. More than one of the men twitches nervously.

“No, not really,” John says. Then you know what I will do at the Transit Point, John? Possible. It is also possible you believe I am going to die in this battle for the Transit Point, that I will lay down my existence for whatever successes your men are sent after.

But I will not die.

Everything according to plan.

**Author's Note:**

> This one grew not just from the prompt, but also how in late s2, Sarah Connor asks "why are you here?"
> 
> This is sort of a series…sort of.  
> It’s a [Triptych>(?)…each of the three stories can be read by themselves, though they can also be read one after another - no loss either way.](http://www.yourdictionary.com/triptych)


End file.
